May 8, 2011Her first full day of life coincided with my first Mother's Day. We had many visitors. Her grandparents stopped by again. As did the Terrys, Harders, and Lewises. It was a perfect, blissful day.

May 9, 2011We should have been able to take Elizabeth home today, but her bilirubin levels were too high and a mild case of jaundice was setting in. This was almost inevitable, due to the trauma of the vaccum assist, plus the fact that I'm O- and she's O+. Either of these things on it's own increases the risk of jaundice. The combination of the two and it was inevitable. They tracked it all day and it went up beyond acceptable levels for discharge, meaning we had to spend the night in the NICU. Mommy did not handle this well at all. She got settled in the NICU around 9:00 pm, and my heart broke. I got up dutifully every 3 hours to pump what milk I could for her. And I waited and agonized for Tuesday's bilirubin numbers, as I was desperate to get her home where she belonged. May 10, 2011

We spent all morning in the NICU with Elizabeth, anxiously awaing the new bilirubin numbers. Once they showed they were coming down, we were released to come home! We left the hospital (finally!) at 5:40 pm, and brought her through the door of our home at 6:20. She had to spend the night on the biliribuin UV blanket, but otherwise it was a good first night.May 11, 2011Went to the pediatrician's office and her bilirubin numbers had dropped within acceptable limits, so we were released from the blanket! Grandma came and held Elizabeth for 3 straight hours while she slept, and both of them loved every minute of it. May 13, 2011Back to the doctor for the 1-week checkup. Breastfeeding going great, Elizabeth gaining weight appropriately. The Doctor remarked at what an alert and attentive baby she was for a 6 day old.May 14, 2011First trips out and about to the Farmer's Market and Marsh She did great. We came home and did her first photoshoot.

May 15, 2011

Elizabeth's Paternal Grandmother arrived from England to stay with us and help out for the next 10 days. Also got some fun pictures of Daddy and Liz together.

May 16, 2011

Elizabeth had her first laugh today. No joke. She laughed at 9 days old. We were all sitting around laughing at something, and the next thing we know, she was laughing right along with us. And she's been laughing ever since.

May 18, 2011

This was Elizabeth's original due date. We went back to the doctor for the 2-week checkup. The doctor proclaimed her "perfect" and suggested we go ahead and start tummy time since she has such good head control. We came home and put her on the play mat, and she lifted her head up and turned it from side to side twice. Also, she started smiling at funny noises today. 9 days old and laughing, 11 days old and smiling. Also, she lost her cord stump at Grandma and Grandpa's.

May 19, 2011Took some good photos today, including some of Liz laughing and smiling in response to stimuli.

May 20, 2011

Elizabeth had her first bath today. She really seemed to enjoy it.

May 21, 2011We all went to the Broad Ripple Art Fair, as it was a beautiful day. Elizabeth was wonderful, and it was our first foray into public breastfeeding. Which we did successfully - twice!

May 22, 2011

She managed to wiggle/army-man crawl a few inches across her play mat during tummy time.

May 25, 2011

She definitely lived up to her "Hungry Hippo" nickname, eating at 12:30, 2:00, 3:30, 5:00, 7:00 and 8:30 am. I stopped counting after that.

May 28, 2011Elizabeth made her big public debut at a good friend's wedding today. She slept through the entire ceremony and reception, but she looked so pretty in her little formal dress. Once we got home, we played around and took some more fun photos in the basement.